The End Of Sedition
“You’ve seen her and the new All-Mother?”
“She’s going to try to turn us into Kanda folk!”
"She’s demanded the education and training of children… and changed the laws of the land! There was once a time when my thralls maintained private stores for my family and workers… NOW she’s put MY food in the hands of the COMMON people…. So they can eat as well as I do!”
“She’s got a TALKING MONKEY at her court!”
“She’s got us trying to march in order with big metal blast poles! In lock-step like Kandia!”
“Was once upon a time that we ran our own clans, solved things between each other properly! Now she wants to make us… civilized, so she says!”
An oaken table stood at the far end of a Vaennlandr longhouse, several aged men with great beards and regal furs sitting on benches around it.
The lot of them drank from great horns provided by the state’s ranching endeavors, full of mead provided by the Beekeepers Corps and delivered to them upon the Royal Roads all founded and enforced by the very person they were complaining about; High Queen Thyrke “Hex-Eye” Himinndottir. “I’ve heard her wife is gone… flew into the sky to the south.” Ulfbjorn of The Golden Peaks spoke up,
“Without the new All-Mother guarding her she is weak!” “What are you suggesting, Ulfbjorn?” Spat Harald Ageson of Southshore.
“You may be protected by your mountains but if the borders collapse then some of us will be the first attacked by the Kandia!” “I merely speak the truth!” Ulfbjorn responded, crossing his arms
“She relies on the All-Mother… She relies on A Founder of the Kanda Folk! She is weak!” Njal Leifson of Malmfjord spoke up, his deep voice echoing dangerously, “Remember that she ruled for over ten years before The Father Of War Arrived…” He Warned,
“It was not Isis Smith who united the peninsula…” “But it WAS Isis Smith that inspired so many new changes over just a single year!” Ulfbjorn complained loudly to the nod of several other lords at the table,
“It gets colder every day, her soldiers grow weaker and we grow stronger as her protection leaves! We could go back to how it was BEFORE The Father Of War!” “But not before Thyrke?” Harald raised an eyebrow with doubt.
“If you think you could have united the peninsula… kept it together without her… why didn’t you already?” “Because I didn’t need to!” He spat back,
“This is our chance to retake our lands and maintain our ways! NOW is the time we are under threat!” “I’ve heard talk from the capital that she’s seeking to abolish Thralldom entirely!” blurted out Erik Ageson of Blarauga,
“She’s already taken our noble rights and privilege, ‘reformed’ the way of things, she calls it! But soon we’ll have nothing left that set us apart in the first place!” “Abolish Thralldom!?” Trygve Haraldson of Andlit Fell stood up, his drinking horn spilling,
“What of the summer raids?! What has brought this to her mind?!” “I hear the monkeys convinced her it was better… that Isis Smith agreed with this!” Erik all but whispered “That’s ridiculous!” Njal countered, standing up as well,
“Now I KNOW you are lying! The Kanda Folk are slavers! They have our own people as slaves of their own! Why would The Father Of War care about our thralls?” “It’s apparent that The High Queen is willing to destroy everything it means to be Vaennlandr to lick the floor of the Kanda Folk!” Ulfbjorn stood up as well, everyone following suit,
“We need to end this while we still have the chance! We can move tonight, on the fastest of horses, arrive before dawn and leave before anyone’s the wiser!” “This is insane!” Harald pushed,
“Thyrke is not some silly girl! She’s shown herself a warrior in pitched combat time and again!” “We could altogether take her easily!” Trygve scoffed,
“She’s only one woman, no matter how strong! We work together and we will defeat her!” “We could even take her alive, show her to be the traitor that she is!” Erik spoke with some excitement, others ramming their fists eagerly on the table,
“She won’t stand a chance!” “This will never work!” Njal chastised,
“No assassination attempt has ever worked… and what’s more! Do you REALLY want to go back to how it was?” The lot of them looked at him confused,
“Erik! Blarauga was destroyed when you were a child how many times? Thanks to Thyrke’s peace your home has become a trade hub untouched by war; one of the southernmost cities in the north!” He turned to Trygve,
“You used to come from, what? A backwater with a mountain with a face on it? NOW it is considered a holy site because she said so… you gain pilgrims every year in greater number seeking to pay their respects! We all benefit from Thyrke’s reign and The All-Mother IS the head of our pantheon regardless of your wishes! Nothing can change that!” “Then be gone with you!” Ulfbjorn cried out, waving his hand,
“Be gone with you and any who support your beloved dog of the Kanda Folk! Go ahead! We will deal with The Father Of War when she returns and YOU will be the first we come after when we’re done! Go on, then! Anyone who decides to take the side of a traitor to the north is NOT welcome in my home! Be Gone With You!” For a few moments Njal and Harald and a couple other northern lords stared… but then, slowly… five left… then Njal, staring coldly at Ulfbjorn, slowly stepped backward until he was at the door… and then left. “Bastards think that they can come into MY home and speak to me like that!” He chuckled, looking at the others as a thrall came and served him. “Is it ok?” The thrall asked, covered in a veil as she poured the mead,
“She is known as The Headsplitter… Are you not afraid for your own skull?” Ulfbjorn laughed, “Ha! No, girl! No! I’m not afraid of an axe! We’ve all split heads before!” “Of course…” The Thrall said, beginning to turn away… but then turning back suddenly,
“But she is The Tamer Of The North Seas, is she not?” She asked,
“Are the seas not greater than any single man?” “We have all grown in the sea, tamed it in our own ways!” Erik scoffed,
“Such is mere metaphor, silly girl!” “I understand…” She turned away slowly… before once again turning back,
“But is she not The Assassinbane? The man said that no assassin has ever managed to find her unaware… that she has ever killed those who would kill her without effort or mercy once they are found guilty.” “Then she will NOT find us guilty until she is dead!” Trygve told her with confidence,
“She cannot kill us if she cannot see or find us! We shall kill her in her sleep if we must!” “Why do you ask such stupid questions, girl?” Ulfbjorn demanded, reaching forward to grab her by her beveiled cheeks and pull her close, “What has thoughts in your mind to question your master?!” The thrall said nothing for a moment, waiting patiently for him to let go before smiling as he recoiled back at the sudden sight of her separately colored eyes underneath the cloth that covered the upper half of her face, “Haven’t you heard that she is known as The Questioner?”
She smirked knowingly, suddenly growing in stature quite some height; as though she’d been walking on her knees the entire time! “Perhaps THAT is why I’ve asked such… stupid questions?” All too quickly the lot of them reached for their swords but Ulfbjorn was already geysering blood from the front of his neck as the thrall, no… As Thyrke Himmindottir doffed her dress in a single motion and threw it over the long fire pit; rolling over the cloth expertly to the far end before the fabric burst into flame!
As she landed she turned on her heel and produced from thin air an axe with which to bury into the skull of Erik from a distance before leaping behind a table that she threw over to avoid the same fate as she’d just doled out!
Three axes, a spear and a knife jutted through the wood threateningly as she leaned back just a couple inches before grabbing the legs of the thing and HEAVING the furniture up and over the firepit, catching two men in the process and laying them to the ground with an angry thud. “You daughter of dogs!” Trygve screamed as the conflagrating dress momentarily blinded the lot of them, swinging wildly before accidentally burying his blade into the arm of one of his would-be compatriots.
The man, Stenulf Knudson of Stjarnavatn, screamed and flailed as he felt the blade bite into his arm; falling into the fire pit as he tripped over a stool.
Desperately the man tried to crawl away from the fire that was already upon his clothing and hair, rolling and screaming and grasping anywhere he could for purchase; only to catch whatever he touched on fire! Stenulf, however, only lived for but a few short moments as another man received a sudden bench to the face, pushing him too into the fire! Trygve shielded his face with his hand and swung wildly all the more with his sword, “Where are you, coward queen?! Face me with honor!” “Because you would have done so with me? With your dozens of men attacking me in my sleep before the morning’s first light?” Her smug voice suddenly echoed from the door,
“While my beloved wife is gone on business and the snows are worse than they’ve ever been? Abandoning your responsibilities and your queen in the nation’s greatest time of need…” Only as Trygve turned to see her at the front did he realize… she’d already won.
“THAT… is High Treason.” She smirked, doors closing as Trygve began to run toward the door, tripping over the bodies and burning debris,
“And The Penalty For Treason… IS DEATH!!!” The door SLAMMED shut JUST as he hit it, fists pounding with his companions to get out…
But Thyrke was not only stronger… the wooden beam she slammed against the doors only dug into the dirt the harder they pushed…
Then the stone she rolled in front of the door only held the beam in place…
And ALL The While… it burned around them! A mile away Njal And Harald trotted with their small party… and heard the screams!
They looked out into the night to see the glow… and then they kept going.
Nobody had ever succeeded in killing Thyrke and many had tried for over a decade… There was no reason for them to have ever thought this would be any different.
And now, thanks to that same skepticism, they were well aware that they would be the ones to survive this winter… not those who sought to destroy all that had brought them together. The Daughter Of The Storm Was MORE Than A Mere Woman…
She Was The End Of Sedition!
The lot of them drank from great horns provided by the state’s ranching endeavors, full of mead provided by the Beekeepers Corps and delivered to them upon the Royal Roads all founded and enforced by the very person they were complaining about; High Queen Thyrke “Hex-Eye” Himinndottir. “I’ve heard her wife is gone… flew into the sky to the south.” Ulfbjorn of The Golden Peaks spoke up,
“Without the new All-Mother guarding her she is weak!” “What are you suggesting, Ulfbjorn?” Spat Harald Ageson of Southshore.
“You may be protected by your mountains but if the borders collapse then some of us will be the first attacked by the Kandia!” “I merely speak the truth!” Ulfbjorn responded, crossing his arms
“She relies on the All-Mother… She relies on A Founder of the Kanda Folk! She is weak!” Njal Leifson of Malmfjord spoke up, his deep voice echoing dangerously, “Remember that she ruled for over ten years before The Father Of War Arrived…” He Warned,
“It was not Isis Smith who united the peninsula…” “But it WAS Isis Smith that inspired so many new changes over just a single year!” Ulfbjorn complained loudly to the nod of several other lords at the table,
“It gets colder every day, her soldiers grow weaker and we grow stronger as her protection leaves! We could go back to how it was BEFORE The Father Of War!” “But not before Thyrke?” Harald raised an eyebrow with doubt.
“If you think you could have united the peninsula… kept it together without her… why didn’t you already?” “Because I didn’t need to!” He spat back,
“This is our chance to retake our lands and maintain our ways! NOW is the time we are under threat!” “I’ve heard talk from the capital that she’s seeking to abolish Thralldom entirely!” blurted out Erik Ageson of Blarauga,
“She’s already taken our noble rights and privilege, ‘reformed’ the way of things, she calls it! But soon we’ll have nothing left that set us apart in the first place!” “Abolish Thralldom!?” Trygve Haraldson of Andlit Fell stood up, his drinking horn spilling,
“What of the summer raids?! What has brought this to her mind?!” “I hear the monkeys convinced her it was better… that Isis Smith agreed with this!” Erik all but whispered “That’s ridiculous!” Njal countered, standing up as well,
“Now I KNOW you are lying! The Kanda Folk are slavers! They have our own people as slaves of their own! Why would The Father Of War care about our thralls?” “It’s apparent that The High Queen is willing to destroy everything it means to be Vaennlandr to lick the floor of the Kanda Folk!” Ulfbjorn stood up as well, everyone following suit,
“We need to end this while we still have the chance! We can move tonight, on the fastest of horses, arrive before dawn and leave before anyone’s the wiser!” “This is insane!” Harald pushed,
“Thyrke is not some silly girl! She’s shown herself a warrior in pitched combat time and again!” “We could altogether take her easily!” Trygve scoffed,
“She’s only one woman, no matter how strong! We work together and we will defeat her!” “We could even take her alive, show her to be the traitor that she is!” Erik spoke with some excitement, others ramming their fists eagerly on the table,
“She won’t stand a chance!” “This will never work!” Njal chastised,
“No assassination attempt has ever worked… and what’s more! Do you REALLY want to go back to how it was?” The lot of them looked at him confused,
“Erik! Blarauga was destroyed when you were a child how many times? Thanks to Thyrke’s peace your home has become a trade hub untouched by war; one of the southernmost cities in the north!” He turned to Trygve,
“You used to come from, what? A backwater with a mountain with a face on it? NOW it is considered a holy site because she said so… you gain pilgrims every year in greater number seeking to pay their respects! We all benefit from Thyrke’s reign and The All-Mother IS the head of our pantheon regardless of your wishes! Nothing can change that!” “Then be gone with you!” Ulfbjorn cried out, waving his hand,
“Be gone with you and any who support your beloved dog of the Kanda Folk! Go ahead! We will deal with The Father Of War when she returns and YOU will be the first we come after when we’re done! Go on, then! Anyone who decides to take the side of a traitor to the north is NOT welcome in my home! Be Gone With You!” For a few moments Njal and Harald and a couple other northern lords stared… but then, slowly… five left… then Njal, staring coldly at Ulfbjorn, slowly stepped backward until he was at the door… and then left. “Bastards think that they can come into MY home and speak to me like that!” He chuckled, looking at the others as a thrall came and served him. “Is it ok?” The thrall asked, covered in a veil as she poured the mead,
“She is known as The Headsplitter… Are you not afraid for your own skull?” Ulfbjorn laughed, “Ha! No, girl! No! I’m not afraid of an axe! We’ve all split heads before!” “Of course…” The Thrall said, beginning to turn away… but then turning back suddenly,
“But she is The Tamer Of The North Seas, is she not?” She asked,
“Are the seas not greater than any single man?” “We have all grown in the sea, tamed it in our own ways!” Erik scoffed,
“Such is mere metaphor, silly girl!” “I understand…” She turned away slowly… before once again turning back,
“But is she not The Assassinbane? The man said that no assassin has ever managed to find her unaware… that she has ever killed those who would kill her without effort or mercy once they are found guilty.” “Then she will NOT find us guilty until she is dead!” Trygve told her with confidence,
“She cannot kill us if she cannot see or find us! We shall kill her in her sleep if we must!” “Why do you ask such stupid questions, girl?” Ulfbjorn demanded, reaching forward to grab her by her beveiled cheeks and pull her close, “What has thoughts in your mind to question your master?!” The thrall said nothing for a moment, waiting patiently for him to let go before smiling as he recoiled back at the sudden sight of her separately colored eyes underneath the cloth that covered the upper half of her face, “Haven’t you heard that she is known as The Questioner?”
She smirked knowingly, suddenly growing in stature quite some height; as though she’d been walking on her knees the entire time! “Perhaps THAT is why I’ve asked such… stupid questions?” All too quickly the lot of them reached for their swords but Ulfbjorn was already geysering blood from the front of his neck as the thrall, no… As Thyrke Himmindottir doffed her dress in a single motion and threw it over the long fire pit; rolling over the cloth expertly to the far end before the fabric burst into flame!
As she landed she turned on her heel and produced from thin air an axe with which to bury into the skull of Erik from a distance before leaping behind a table that she threw over to avoid the same fate as she’d just doled out!
Three axes, a spear and a knife jutted through the wood threateningly as she leaned back just a couple inches before grabbing the legs of the thing and HEAVING the furniture up and over the firepit, catching two men in the process and laying them to the ground with an angry thud. “You daughter of dogs!” Trygve screamed as the conflagrating dress momentarily blinded the lot of them, swinging wildly before accidentally burying his blade into the arm of one of his would-be compatriots.
The man, Stenulf Knudson of Stjarnavatn, screamed and flailed as he felt the blade bite into his arm; falling into the fire pit as he tripped over a stool.
Desperately the man tried to crawl away from the fire that was already upon his clothing and hair, rolling and screaming and grasping anywhere he could for purchase; only to catch whatever he touched on fire! Stenulf, however, only lived for but a few short moments as another man received a sudden bench to the face, pushing him too into the fire! Trygve shielded his face with his hand and swung wildly all the more with his sword, “Where are you, coward queen?! Face me with honor!” “Because you would have done so with me? With your dozens of men attacking me in my sleep before the morning’s first light?” Her smug voice suddenly echoed from the door,
“While my beloved wife is gone on business and the snows are worse than they’ve ever been? Abandoning your responsibilities and your queen in the nation’s greatest time of need…” Only as Trygve turned to see her at the front did he realize… she’d already won.
“THAT… is High Treason.” She smirked, doors closing as Trygve began to run toward the door, tripping over the bodies and burning debris,
“And The Penalty For Treason… IS DEATH!!!” The door SLAMMED shut JUST as he hit it, fists pounding with his companions to get out…
But Thyrke was not only stronger… the wooden beam she slammed against the doors only dug into the dirt the harder they pushed…
Then the stone she rolled in front of the door only held the beam in place…
And ALL The While… it burned around them! A mile away Njal And Harald trotted with their small party… and heard the screams!
They looked out into the night to see the glow… and then they kept going.
Nobody had ever succeeded in killing Thyrke and many had tried for over a decade… There was no reason for them to have ever thought this would be any different.
And now, thanks to that same skepticism, they were well aware that they would be the ones to survive this winter… not those who sought to destroy all that had brought them together. The Daughter Of The Storm Was MORE Than A Mere Woman…
She Was The End Of Sedition!
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